Which Kitchen Cabinet Trends Should You Avoid

When embarking on a kitchen remodel, it's tempting to jump on the latest trends. However, many fads come and go quickly, while a kitchen should feel relevant for years to come. Chasing temporary styles often leads to regret and unnecessary expenses down the road as you attempt to update the space again sooner than expected.

The key is identifying which trends feel overly risky or impractical for real-life use. By skipping transient fads in the core elements that remain fixed, you can create a kitchen with long-lasting appeal that avoids appearing quickly dated.

Evaluate How Your Kitchen Functions

Before considering stylish trends, objectively evaluate how your kitchen functions on a daily basis. Aspects like the layout, workflow, storage solutions, countertops, and flooring generally remain fixed and require a significant investment to change. It becomes costly and frustrating to revise these core elements when simply chasing temporary visual trends.

For example, a gray wood-look porcelain tile floor might feel sleek and modern now, but shows every scuff, scratch, and stain despite marketing claims of durability. Such a floor will likely appear far more dated or tire sooner than classic hardwood planks or natural stone with timeless appeal.

Potentially Problematic Layout Trends

In pursuit of an "open concept" kitchen, awkward layouts result from chopping up the space. Angled peninsulas, odd bump-outs, and extremely wide openings into living areas often get omitted in magazine photos. In daily reality, these layouts hamper kitchen functionality long-term despite interesting curb appeal.

• Asymmetrical work zones for inefficient movement
• Tiny islands limiting essential prep space
• No defined kitchen entry allowing clutter to spread
• Eliminating cabinetry and storage capacity
• Odd bump-outs or unusable dead spaces
• Excessively wide openings that hurt functionality

Key Elements for a Functional Kitchen

Look beyond trends to consider elements that enable your kitchen to operate smoothly as the busy hub of the home. Think through your unique needs and lifestyle before prioritizing form over function.

• Logical work triangle guiding the layout
• Plentiful countertops for simultaneous tasks
• Sufficient storage cabinets/drawers to contain items out of sight
• Dedicated cleaning zone with sink and dishwasher access
• Open floorplan to living space, not the entire home

Skip Impractical Design Choices

In recent years, many trendy finishes and attention-grabbing materials have emerged for kitchen components. However, these design choices often require intensive maintenance that outweighs the style payoff.

For example, open shelving seems worth extra dusting and cleaning for a lighter, airier aesthetic at first. But over years of daily use, the burden of keeping them constantly polished grows tiresome compared to the visual impact. The frustrations from high-maintenance choices persist long after the look itself feels tired.

Problematic Picks Demanding Regular Care

• Open shelving showing every speck of dust and grease
• Black stained cabinets highlighting all fingerprints and smudges
• Glass-front upper cabinets revealing messy contents
• Distressed paint finishes wearing unevenly
• Barn door tracks on cabinets gathering grime and grease

Durable, Low-Maintenance Design Options

• Closed cabinets with integrated lighting
• Easy-to-clean cabinet surfaces like ceramic, metal, high-gloss, or plastic laminate
• Solid wood doors with wire glass for filtered visibility
• Durable enameled or smooth finishes
• Full-overlay cabinet doors hiding tracks/hardware

Select Flexible, Neutral Hues

Color trends in kitchen cabinetry and paint come and go. At first, bold or trendy hues give kitchens a fresh, current look in photos. But color often feels far less appealing years down the road, quickly appearing tired or dated.

Neutral wood tones and versatile off-whites offer flexibility to incorporate bolder accents over time. For example, a dramatic navy blue island makes a striking style statement. But floor-to-ceiling navy cabinets tend to overwhelm spaces, feeling dark and closed-in with constant use, limiting options to update with color accents down the road.

Kitchen Color Trends to Avoid

• All-white or all-black color schemes
• Saturated, overly bold brights overwhelming a space
• Too much gray creating a cold, aloof feeling
• Dated "greige" beige-gray hue
• 1990s era orange oak or yellow tone

Flexible Neutral Color Options

• Warm wood finishes like oak, cherry, or walnut
• Off-white, cream, light tan, or soft gray
• Classic perimeter cabinetry in versatile paint or wood
• Incorporate color mainly through changeable accents

Evaluate Durability and Quality

Many trendy cabinet materials and hardware finishes prove less durable than traditional options when examined closely. Particleboard swells, sags, and falls apart with moisture or wear over years of use. Medium density fiberboard (MDF) also lacks water resilience compared to moisture-resistant plywood.

Also consider finish durability - polyurethane offers exceptional protection against scrapes, stains, and wear from daily use. For hardware, oil-rubbed bronze pulls patina attractively as it ages naturally compared to trendy brass finishes that crack and peel.

Problematic Cabinet Materials

• Particleboard boxes warping and crumbling over time
• MDF doors lacking resilience when exposed to leaks or spills
• Thin veneers on doors easily chipping at the edges
• Thermofoil laminates trapping moisture and swelling
• Cheap hardware finishes showing wear quickly

Quality Materials for Durability

• Moisture-resistant plywood cabinet boxes
• Solid hardwood doors and frames
• Durable dovetail joinery on drawers
• Full-extension drawer glides
• Brushed nickel or oil rubbed bronze hardware

Incorporate Trends Through Adaptable Touches

When thoughtfully balanced, certain trendy touches can update a kitchen's look without overwhelming its functionality or flexibility. The key is to focus on smaller details offering versatility to change over time.

Open shelves or glass cabinet doors work better sparingly than on every wall. Painted finishes modernize traditional stained cabinets for a fresh look that allows adjusting color down the road. Thoughtfully mixing materials like wood, painted laminate, and multi-level open shelving strikes a savvy balance.

Ways to Work In Trends Adaptably

• Pops of color like a bold backsplash
• Removable paint on perimeter cabinets
• Fun patterns on ceramic tile backsplash
• Interchangeable knobs and hardware
• Floating shelves instead of upper cabinets
• Barn door styling on an island pantry

By thoughtfully navigating kitchen trends with staying power, you can craft a space with wide appeal. Seek quality materials to provide durability while infusing personal touches that express your style.